Father visits store where errand

turned into deadly confrontation

Charlie's Family Pharmacy in Seaford, N.Y., is where John Capano, a special
agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, was
fatally shot.NEW YORK TIMES / KIRSTEN LUCE

By JOSEPH GOLDSTEIN and AL BAKER The New York Times

Published: Monday, January 2, 2012 at 1:00 a.m.

Last Modified: Sunday, January 1, 2012 at 8:20 p.m.

Less than 24 hours after his son was fatally shot while confronting a robber, James J. Capano stopped by the drugstore where his son lost his life.

His son, John Capano, an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, had gone to Charlie's Family Pharmacy in Seaford, Long Island, to pick up cancer medication for his father, as well as a prescription for himself. But instead of a Saturday afternoon errand, John Capano confronted a crime in progress when he arrived. A robber was stealing some 300 pills of oxycodone and additional pills of Opana, both painkillers, as well as cash, the authorities said.

"I should have gone," said James Capano, who is in his early 80s and had once been a detective in Manhattan. Capano said he was not surprised that his son had intervened.

"He never walked away from anything," Capano said.

Along with John Capano, at least one other off-duty law enforcement officer, as well as a retired officer, intervened in the robbery. In the ensuing melee, shots were fired.

Capano, a longtime explosives expert for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, was mortally wounded. The robber, identified by the Nassau County Police Department as James McGoey 43, was also killed, the authorities said. Rory O'Connor, an assistant special agent in charge of the New York Field Division, said the suspect was a "career criminal" and a parolee.

"John walked into that pharmacy as a customer, while off-duty," O'Connor said Sunday. "He subsequently engaged in a struggle with the suspect, and John was shot, as well as the perpetrator."

Details of the shooting remained murky 24 hours later, and the authorities would not discuss how it unfolded and who may have fired the fatal shots.

"As to who did the shooting, I'm not going to discuss that," O'Connor said, explaining that he was deferring to the police in Nassau County, who are leading the investigation. Spokesmen for the Nassau County police declined to discuss the case Sunday.

<p>Less than 24 hours after his son was fatally shot while confronting a robber, James J. Capano stopped by the drugstore where his son lost his life.</p><p>His son, John Capano, an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, had gone to Charlie's Family Pharmacy in Seaford, Long Island, to pick up cancer medication for his father, as well as a prescription for himself. But instead of a Saturday afternoon errand, John Capano confronted a crime in progress when he arrived. A robber was stealing some 300 pills of oxycodone and additional pills of Opana, both painkillers, as well as cash, the authorities said.</p><p>"I should have gone," said James Capano, who is in his early 80s and had once been a detective in Manhattan. Capano said he was not surprised that his son had intervened.</p><p>"He never walked away from anything," Capano said.</p><p>Along with John Capano, at least one other off-duty law enforcement officer, as well as a retired officer, intervened in the robbery. In the ensuing melee, shots were fired.</p><p>Capano, a longtime explosives expert for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, was mortally wounded. The robber, identified by the Nassau County Police Department as James McGoey 43, was also killed, the authorities said. Rory O'Connor, an assistant special agent in charge of the New York Field Division, said the suspect was a "career criminal" and a parolee.</p><p>"John walked into that pharmacy as a customer, while off-duty," O'Connor said Sunday. "He subsequently engaged in a struggle with the suspect, and John was shot, as well as the perpetrator."</p><p>Details of the shooting remained murky 24 hours later, and the authorities would not discuss how it unfolded and who may have fired the fatal shots.</p><p>"As to who did the shooting, I'm not going to discuss that," O'Connor said, explaining that he was deferring to the police in Nassau County, who are leading the investigation. Spokesmen for the Nassau County police declined to discuss the case Sunday.</p>